A very different navarathri

If you read my blog or see my posts regularly, you know that this blog has documented every bay area golu we visit during Navarathri for what.. 15 years running?! 

This year, I did not get invited to any Golus. San did.. as it was a ladies only timed event at most houses to avoid people from different social bubbles interacting. 

Save for my next door neighbor, I did not get to do the usual golugraphy. It is also a passion of mine to capture any new dolls in the display or anything unique year on year that folks come up with. 

The only golu from this year..

The new doll this year that captured our attention .. 

we did do the Saraswati poojai at home ..

San took this photo of me to send to my mom.. one of her best clicks in recent times..

This year given we dont get a chance to wear new clothes.. that is an understatement.. have not even worn formal pants for more than a few hours since March! It has been T-shirts and track suits and sitting and attending meetings or doing yoga on the same mat all day.. 

So every festival gets a new shirt.. this one was purchased last December during the India trip. 

The little one gets the photo credit. San is her usual lovely self and puts my age in perspective and stark contrast just within the 2020 photo sets..

Last year I decided to match shirt colors with San's saree color and went around for Golus.. this year has been different.. of the 9 days, she dressed up only on 4 and went to select friends houses with fixed time slots. 

Navarathri has understandably been a muted affair for 2020. It was my sincere prayer to the godess of learning that folks learn that wearing a mask and social distancing and washing their hands can save lives and the lives of people who are elderly, have other health conditions are as valuable as their own! 

No one needs to die because someone decides to be irresponsible.. the whole "in pursuit of my own happiness at all costs" attitude has a fundamental flaw that is glaringly obvious, thanks to a small virus!

This last year has been good for learning.. hope the coming year brings more knowledge to me and everyone around me.

Wishing everyone a happy Dushera/Navarathri/Durga pooja/Saraswati pooja/Vijayadasami/ Ayuda pooja.. and whatever other name you celebrate this festival by.. 

The birds must be crazy

Yesterday, during my yoga class at home (done with a teachers voice recording for instruction) there were a lot of banging noises at regular intervals. Thought someone was throwing stones on my window or a tennis ball.. was already on the floor series and wiped out, so it was easy to ignore and keep going with the class.

This morning was a different story. As soon as the class started there was a thud. Then I saw this bird come and fly full force against the window and hit the glass..

It did it again. . . and again.. so I had to pause the audio, take a 15 minute break to film this angry bird that was distracting me from yoga. 

Bird 1: Sundar 0 

it doesnt take much to beat me.. any small distraction could ruin my focus. so it is a miracle that I can go through any class.

Even took a slow mo video of it. It is a very determined bird.. the way it preps on the edge of the fence in the same location and launches itself at the window. We never furnished the guest room after finishing construction 4 years ago.. so it just has this Dhoti on push pins for a curtain. maybe that is giving it a very strong reflection? Don't know. Have never seen any bird behave like this before. 

I have seen a bird fight with its reflection on our Prius side mirror and go shit all over the window..

but this one is weird! 

After resuming the class I just got used to the bang and thud every 2 minutes.. 

This bird made at least 40 attempts that I counted over a 90 minute period. If only my focus and determination to ignore this noise and keep doing yoga matched that of the bird's to come hit the window!!!

Then again on a positive note, it is end of September and we still have 3 months to go in 2020.. but my yoga attendance has been great as there is no travel!

the birds are all back.. including the hummingbird family. Hope to get some pictures over the weekend just sitting down in one place in the backyard, camera in hand.. it is a meditation of sorts. Keep focusing on one place hoping the hummingbird will come to that flower again! 

In spite of all the antics, the bird made me go outside and watch it post class for 30 minutes and I realized it was not one bird.. there were two taking turns!!

It must be some kind of game..

Engaging in positive sweet thoughts during tough times

The last two weeks have been interesting. The smoke which kept us from walking for a few days that finally cleared. The blue skies were back as were the birds and little critters..

Then there was some walks in the evening with some amazing skies.. 

an attempt to make mysore pak during lunch..

the end result was okay.. put a little too much ghee and kept it on the stove a minute longer.. so while the taste was good, it was a little hard.. it has been at least 4 years since I tried making mysore pak and the next attempt will be better..

practice makes perfect.. and the one thing I finished in the last two weeks is learning the entire Shiva Thandava Stotram.. 

Made this color coded chart based on the template for understanding the meaning of every verse using a primary theme with sub concepts (green is primary message, blue second, red third, orange and gray fourth and fifth level).. helps understand the meaning and remember (uploading this one as a large jpg that prints as a single page in hopes others can use this to learn).

and here is my attempt to recite this earlier today..having a camera in front of you makes you conscious.. can say it without any glitches off camera..

The days are going by fast. The usual work, yoga routine all from a mat in the same place is still ongoing.

There is the occasional parking lot yoga practice which makes my day! 

It is just that I have been meaning to blog for a long time and never got to it. Skipping watching a debate and writing this seemed to be a better idea! 

Learning something new, practicing things and creating some things that actually put a smile on your face are much better options for spending time!